Perfect Time
by Jade Stewart
Summary: Aragorn's first arrival at Rivendell and subsequent adoption by Elrond.


**Title**: Perfect Time   
**Author**: Celebrian Helyanwë   
**Email**: elf-friend@truthmail.com   
**Feedback**: Please! Both good and bad are welcomed, but no flames please.   
**Rating**: PG for some violence and angst   
**Summary**: A song-fic for Máire Brennan's song Perfect Time. Aragorn is brought to Imladris for the first time. Elrond has some painful memories of his own childhood, which resurface as he watches the child try to adjust and get over the deaths of his parents   
**Spoilers**: The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion   
**Disclaimer**: Unfortunately, it's not mine, not now, not ever. All characters are Tolkien's. The song lyrics are by Máire Brennan. You should check the song out.   
**Author's Note**: Ok, ok, Tolkien said that Arathorn was killed when he was away with the twins and that Gilraen brought Aragorn to Rivendell, but he says so little about Gilraen, that I don't know what she was like or how it all fit together. That's why I had to kill her in this. Sorry, but I HAD to, so please don't bonk, poke or otherwise punish me!   
  
  
  


Perfect Time

Arathorn and the twins had been out in the wild for over a fortnight. The trip had been quite uneventful, except for their banter. Finally, they were turning home to pick up Gilraen and young Aragorn on the way to Imladris. The forest was calm and beautiful. The spring air was warm, but not too much so. Arathorn dismounted to pick some primroses and daisies for his wife. The sun shone down and lit up his features. 

Just then, loud screeching filled the air. The three snapped into action. Arathorn vaulted into the saddle, drew his sword and prodded his horse into a gallop. The twins were not far behind. They heard a woman's scream along with screeching cheers and a young child's cry. Arathorn breathed a prayer and urged his horse to go even faster. 

_Believe me,_   
_I'm not afraid to,_   
_Teach me,_   
_To learn Your ways._   
_Carry me,_   
_Under Your wings,_   
_In Your perfect time._

A few moments later, he reached his small homestead. Orcs surrounded the small house, which was in flames. He could not see his wife, but some orcs were holding Aragorn and the small child was wailing. Arathorn promptly leapt from his saddle and, with a cry, charged the orcs who were tormenting his son. Just then, the twins arrived in the clearing. Drawing their bows, the shot the orcs with deadly accuracy. 

Arathorn killed the orcs that held his son and stopped cold. A few feet away, lying on the ground, was Gilraen, dead. For a few seconds, he hesitated. That was all it took. An arrow flew straight toward his chest, and there was nothing else in its path. The twins called warnings to him, but Arathorn was too shocked to hear. As he turned to slay the nearest orc, the arrow struck, and Arathorn fell to the ground. Arathorn's spirit was no longer in his body, but in the Timeless Halls where Illuvatar dwelt. 

_Only You,_   
_Can dreams come true?_   
_Only You_   
_Can make me shine._   
_Only You,_   
_Can days be right,_   
_In Your perfect time?_

Elrohir woke with a start. Looking around, he wondered where Arathorn was. Then he remembered. Arathorn was dead. If only dreams could come true, he would be with them. Elrohir heard someone sobbing softly. He glanced over to where the sound came from. It was his friend's young son, Aragorn. He walked over to the crying child and gathered him into his arms. Aragorn latched his arms around Elrohir's neck. "I-I want Ada!" he whispered. Elrohir rubbed the small boy's back slowly, hoping to soothe him without aggravating the burns from being carried through a burning doorway. "I know, tithen hên, I wish he was here, too," he murmured. Aragorn clung to him even more tightly. "Can things go right again?" he asked. Elrohir's eyes filled with tears at hearing that question asked by one so young. "Yes, Aragorn, yes!" he affirmed. 

_I know,_   
_You told me that I'm not alone._   
_You know,_   
_I couldn't do it on my own._

Elrond woke up to the sound of soft crying. Following the sound to its source led him to the twins bedroom. Elladan and Elrohir had just returned. He could tell that because they still had their cloaks on. Upon seeing their father, they rushed to him, urging him into the room. Elrond saw a small sobbing form on Elrohir's bed and stopped. "What happened?" he asked his sons. They glanced at each other. "Arathorn and Gilraen are dead, adar nin," Elladan said softly. "Orcs," Elrohir put in. "They fired the house while Gilraen and Aragorn were in it, apparently. Gilraen was dead by the time we got there." Elrond sighed, trying to shove his memories to the back of his mind. He could deal with them later. Elladan turned and lit a light, while Elrohir fetched some bandages and healing herbs. With the light, Elrond could see the burns on the two-year-old's back and flinched. Elrond treated the child's injuries and got up to leave when he heard a small wail of "Don't leave me!" Elrond sat back down beside the boy and stroked his hair. "We won't leave, child, we won't leave you!" he murmured, feeling for little Aragorn's loss. 

_See my eyes are older now,_   
_Broken dreams behind._   
_Fill my heart with precious love,_   
_I know it's there to find._

Aragorn gazed up into the elf lord's face. Elrond could have cried. In the child's eyes, he saw fear, loss, broken dreams and, above all, a longing for a father's love. He knew in that minute he was lost. All these centuries, he had avoided befriending men, for fear of the pain he knew he would face when they died. Now here was this little human child, gazing into his eyes with an unspoken plea for love. How could he refuse? 

_Believe me,_   
_I'm not afraid to,_   
_Teach me,_   
_To learn Your ways._   
_Carry me,_   
_Under Your wings,_   
_In Your perfect time._

Elrond tossed and turned restlessly. Why did Aragorn's coming have to dredge up these memories? He rolled over again, trying to shut them out, but it wasn't working. Finally, he fell asleep, but the memories haunted him even in his dreams. Over and over he saw it: his town in flames, he and his brother clinging to Elwing, their mother, Elwing hurling herself from the top of the tower into the sea. Maedhros and Maglor took them through the streets, past the dead and dying. Elrond rolled over and sobbed. How he wished he could forget! 

_Only You,_   
_Can dreams come true?_   
_Only You_   
_Can make me shine._   
_Only You,_   
_Can days be right,_   
_In Your perfect time?_

Finally his dreams changed. He saw his parents, his brother and himself together in Sirion. He and his brother were grown, the twins and Arwen were there as well. The twins bickered with each other, which led to Elros and him bickering. His parents laughed. Everything was perfect. Elrond knew that was how it would have been, had the sons of Feanor not raided Sirion for the Silmaril. The scene shifted again. He and Elros lay, huddled together, on a sleeping mat. He remembered longing for someone to love them. Maglor approach, and the young twins shied away. 

_Precious love,_   
_You gave me,_   
_Precious love._

The dream jumped over several days. Young Elrond and Elros were playing together in their room. Maglor approached them again. They shrank away, but Maglor insisted, assuring them, that he meant no harm to them. Finally, they came to him and he wrapped them both in a huge embrace. 

_I know_   
_Forgiveness is the key, not pride._   
_I want_   
_To heal this pain I hide inside._

After finally drifting into a dreamless sleep, Elrond was woken by a huge ruckus in the twins' room. Just then, Aragorn barged into Elrond's room with Elrohir just behind him. Elrond looked at Aragorn and blinked. Aragorn's hair was quite dishevelled and his clothes were on inside out and crooked. The look on the boy's face was anything but pleased. Elrond looked at Elrohir. "I didn't do it, Ada, honestly!" he exclaimed. "That was Aragorn's doing. I tried to help him, but he wouldn't let me!"   
Elrond sighed. "Aragorn, come here," he ordered. The child obeyed. "Elrohir, I think this would be easier to deal with if you weren't here." Elrohir left the room and shut the door. "Aragorn, why won't you let Elrohir help you dress?" Aragorn's answer surprised him. "'Cause Ada's supposed to help me," he whispered. Elrond reached out and drew the young child to himself. "Will you let me do it for you, since your Ada isn't here?" he asked. Aragorn shook his head. "Aragorn, do you know your ada will never come back?" Aragorn nodded his head. "Then let me do it, instead." Aragorn shook his head. "Nana do it," he muttered. "Your nana is with your ada, Aragorn." The child looked up at him with his big grey eyes. "You mean Nana won't come back, too?" he asked. Elrond nodded. Aragorn wailed. "I want my nana!" he screamed over and over again. Elrond sighed and held the crying toddler close to him. 

He could no longer see his room in Imladris. He saw the wall of a tent, and he was no longer holding Aragorn, but clutching his brother, who was wailing for their mother. As suddenly and quickly as it began, it was gone. He sighed with frustration. He thought he had gotten over the loss of his mother. Obviously, his heart was not as healed as he had thought. Gradually, Aragorn stopped crying. Elrond looked down at him. The child's grey eyes peered back up at him. He felt tiny hands clutch at his clothes. "Aragorn, let me fix your clothes for you," he said softly. Aragorn shook his head. "If Nana and Ada can't do it, that no one does!" 

_Free my fears and promise me_   
_That You won't let me go._   
_You're the one to comfort me,_   
_The past, my God, You know._

Elrond stopped by Aragorn's room on his way to bed. The child whimpered in his sleep and muttered something about "...Ada tolo..." Elrond walked over to the child and stroked his hair. Immediately, the little boy calmed. Suddenly, he looked up at the elven lord. "Don't leave like they made Ada leave me!" he whispered. "I won't," Elrond whispered. With that, the child put his thumb in his mouth, rolled over and went to sleep. 

_Believe me,_   
_I'm not afraid to,_   
_Teach me,_   
_To learn Your ways._   
_Carry me,_   
_Under Your wings,_   
_In Your perfect time._

A few weeks later, Elrond was writing a letter to his father-in-law. Aragorn walked over and climbed into his lap. "What are you doing?" he queried, looking up into the elf's face. Elrond looked down at the boy in his lap. "I'm writing a letter, Estel," he replied. "What's 'write'?" Aragorn wanted to know. Elrond explained. "Teach me," he begged, eagerly. Elrond set aside his letter and got out some paper and another pen... 

_Only You,_   
_Can dreams come true?_   
_Only You_   
_Can make me shine._   
_Only You,_   
_Can days be right,_   
_In Your perfect time?_

The End. 


End file.
